Our Universe is too vast for even the most imaginative sci-fi

[The Sage of Main Street]

Our Universe is too vast for even the most imaginative sci-fi | Aeon Ideas

The US astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson once said: ‘The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.’ Similarly, the wonders of the Universe are under no obligation to make it easy for science-fiction writers to tell stories about them. The Universe is mostly empty space, and the distances between stars in galaxies, and between galaxies in the Universe, are incomprehensibly vast on human scales. Capturing the true scale of the Universe, while somehow tying it to human endeavours and emotions, is a daunting challenge for any science-fiction writer. Olaf Stapledon took up that challenge in his novel Star Maker (1937), in which the stars and nebulae, and cosmos as a whole, are conscious. While we are humbled by our tiny size relative to the cosmos, our brains can none the less comprehend, to some extent, just how large the Universe we inhabit is. This is hopeful, since, as the astrobiologist Caleb Scharf of Columbia University has said: ‘In a finite world, a cosmic perspective isn’t a luxury, it is a necessity.’

Conveying this to the public is the real challenge faced by astronomers and science-fiction writers alike.

And to think us, this tiny little animal on one small planet is so smart. How many others are there? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands DS? Millions?

Postmodern Science Is Degenerate Wishful Thinking

It could easily be zero. The odds were almost impossible for life to appear on Earth. So we won the Powerball lottery and may be the only ones.

 

[sealybobo]

Our Universe is too vast for even the most imaginative sci-fi | Aeon Ideas

The US astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson once said: ‘The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.’ Similarly, the wonders of the Universe are under no obligation to make it easy for science-fiction writers to tell stories about them. The Universe is mostly empty space, and the distances between stars in galaxies, and between galaxies in the Universe, are incomprehensibly vast on human scales. Capturing the true scale of the Universe, while somehow tying it to human endeavours and emotions, is a daunting challenge for any science-fiction writer. Olaf Stapledon took up that challenge in his novel Star Maker (1937), in which the stars and nebulae, and cosmos as a whole, are conscious. While we are humbled by our tiny size relative to the cosmos, our brains can none the less comprehend, to some extent, just how large the Universe we inhabit is. This is hopeful, since, as the astrobiologist Caleb Scharf of Columbia University has said: ‘In a finite world, a cosmic perspective isn’t a luxury, it is a necessity.’

Conveying this to the public is the real challenge faced by astronomers and science-fiction writers alike.

And to think us, this tiny little animal on one small planet is so smart. How many others are there? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands DS? Millions?

Postmodern Science Is Degenerate Wishful Thinking

It could easily be zero. The odds were almost impossible for life to appear on Earth. So we won the Powerball lottery and may be the only ones.

Statistically unlikely but because we're too stupid to know you side with the belief we are alone?

 

[sealybobo]

Our Universe is too vast for even the most imaginative sci-fi | Aeon Ideas

The US astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson once said: ‘The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.’ Similarly, the wonders of the Universe are under no obligation to make it easy for science-fiction writers to tell stories about them. The Universe is mostly empty space, and the distances between stars in galaxies, and between galaxies in the Universe, are incomprehensibly vast on human scales. Capturing the true scale of the Universe, while somehow tying it to human endeavours and emotions, is a daunting challenge for any science-fiction writer. Olaf Stapledon took up that challenge in his novel Star Maker (1937), in which the stars and nebulae, and cosmos as a whole, are conscious. While we are humbled by our tiny size relative to the cosmos, our brains can none the less comprehend, to some extent, just how large the Universe we inhabit is. This is hopeful, since, as the astrobiologist Caleb Scharf of Columbia University has said: ‘In a finite world, a cosmic perspective isn’t a luxury, it is a necessity.’

Conveying this to the public is the real challenge faced by astronomers and science-fiction writers alike.

And to think us, this tiny little animal on one small planet is so smart. How many others are there? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands DS? Millions?

Postmodern Science Is Degenerate Wishful Thinking

It could easily be zero. The odds were almost impossible for life to appear on Earth. So we won the Powerball lottery and may be the only ones.

Impossible and or improbable. Chances are there are many.

 

[sealybobo]

It is true what is on black it is just a word i agree with you but if you compare really the math itself ( put on the side the word) at the universe no start with 0 and 1- ++++ and no end

Yup our radio telescopes tell us that our Universe (the big bubble that we live inside of which contains everything that we can see including all stars and galaxies) started somewhere in some direction with a big explosion and continues in all directions at increasing speeds.

This is only possible according to the laws of physics that we know of if (1) the force at the middle propelling everything outwards is STILL THERE emitting force, and (2) there are no other forces outside of the bubble to STOP it.

That's all that we know about it -- precious little else.

We must learn to live with uncertainty.

Okay, as the big bang is also an uncertainty.
What would have caused this explosion coming for nowhere ?

Where is the center of the Universe?

The universe has no center, because it has no edge. In a finite universe, space is curved in such a way that if you could travel billions of light years in a straight line, you would eventually return to your starting point. It is also possible that our universe is infinite. In both cases, groups of galaxies completely fill the universe and move away from each other at all points, following the expansion of the universe

An example of a tiny universe containing only 48 stars. A spaceship traveling among these stars can not find the edge of this universe. If it goes out through one side of the universe, it will reemerge through the other edge. The travelers aboard the ship see an infinity of stars all around them. This universe has neither frontier nor center.
(Where did the Big Bang take place in the Universe?
It is often said that the Big Bang was an explosion in an empty space, and that this explosion developed in this empty space. This is false.

The Big Bang created space and time. At the beginning of the universe, space was completely filled by matter. The material was originally very hot and very dense, it then expanded and cooled to end up giving the stars and galaxies that we see today in the universe.
Although space may have been concentrated at a single point at the time of the Big Bang, it may also have been infinite from the beginning. In both scenarios, space was completely filled by matter at its inception.

There is no center for this expansion, the space 'swells' at all points. An observer in any galaxy sees most of the other galaxies in the universe moving away from him.

The only answer to the question "Where did the Big Bang take place" is thus that it occurred at every point of the universe.

Is the Earth also expanding in the universe?
The Earth is not expanding, nor is the Solar System, nor the Milky Way. These objects were formed under the influence of gravitation and ceased to expand. Gravity also retains the galaxies in groups and clusters. It is mainly groups and clusters of galaxies that move away from each other in the universe.

What is outside the universe?
Space was created by the Big Bang. Our universe has no edge or boundary - there is no 'outside' to our universe (see question 1). It is possible that our universe is only one of an infinity of universes (see question 4), but these universes do not necessarily need a 'space' to exist.

What was there before the Big Bang?

Time was created by the Big Bang - we do not know if it existed before the Big Bang. However, it is very difficult to answer such a question. Some theories suggest that our universe belongs to an infinity of universes (called a 'multiverse') in perpetual creation. This is possible, but extremely difficult to prove.

If the universe is 14 billion years old, how can galaxies be more than 14 billion light years away?
It is probable that our universe is infinite, and filled with matter everywhere since the Big Bang (see question 2). There is also serious evidence that in the early days of the universe, the universe had expanded at a much higher rate than light. It is possible to create such an expansion, in which the particles do not move at high speed but where the space between the particles increases considerably.

We can imagine galaxies as balls laid on a sheet of rubber that represents space. If we stretch the sheet, the balls move away from each other. Two close balls will only move slowly. Very distant balls will appear to leak at high speed. There is no limit to the rate of expansion of space.

Space is the geometry of our universe. Changes in the size or shape of space can occur due to shifts of matter or energy in the universe, or because of changes in the universe's content in terms of matter and energy.

So what lies just beyond our expanding universe is matter and our universe is like a bubble in the dark matter that surrounds our universe. One day our universe bubble may pop or collapse on itself.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

Our Universe is too vast for even the most imaginative sci-fi | Aeon Ideas

The US astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson once said: ‘The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.’ Similarly, the wonders of the Universe are under no obligation to make it easy for science-fiction writers to tell stories about them. The Universe is mostly empty space, and the distances between stars in galaxies, and between galaxies in the Universe, are incomprehensibly vast on human scales. Capturing the true scale of the Universe, while somehow tying it to human endeavours and emotions, is a daunting challenge for any science-fiction writer. Olaf Stapledon took up that challenge in his novel Star Maker (1937), in which the stars and nebulae, and cosmos as a whole, are conscious. While we are humbled by our tiny size relative to the cosmos, our brains can none the less comprehend, to some extent, just how large the Universe we inhabit is. This is hopeful, since, as the astrobiologist Caleb Scharf of Columbia University has said: ‘In a finite world, a cosmic perspective isn’t a luxury, it is a necessity.’

Conveying this to the public is the real challenge faced by astronomers and science-fiction writers alike.

And to think us, this tiny little animal on one small planet is so smart. How many others are there? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands DS? Millions?

Postmodern Science Is Degenerate Wishful Thinking

It could easily be zero. The odds were almost impossible for life to appear on Earth. So we won the Powerball lottery and may be the only ones.

Statistically unlikely but because we're too stupid to know you side with the belief we are alone?

Nerd Fantasies

If all you have is the pushy self-pleasing NA$A lie that Earth-like planets are likely to have life, I take the other side by default. I only read about the real odds in a book by someone who was trying to push a different quack theory. Life needed 2 to the 200,000th power of events to form but did it on Earth with only 2 to the 200th power.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

It is true what is on black it is just a word i agree with you but if you compare really the math itself ( put on the side the word) at the universe no start with 0 and 1- ++++ and no end

Yup our radio telescopes tell us that our Universe (the big bubble that we live inside of which contains everything that we can see including all stars and galaxies) started somewhere in some direction with a big explosion and continues in all directions at increasing speeds.

This is only possible according to the laws of physics that we know of if (1) the force at the middle propelling everything outwards is STILL THERE emitting force, and (2) there are no other forces outside of the bubble to STOP it.

That's all that we know about it -- precious little else.

We must learn to live with uncertainty.

Okay, as the big bang is also an uncertainty.
What would have caused this explosion coming for nowhere ?

Where is the center of the Universe?

The universe has no center, because it has no edge. In a finite universe, space is curved in such a way that if you could travel billions of light years in a straight line, you would eventually return to your starting point. It is also possible that our universe is infinite. In both cases, groups of galaxies completely fill the universe and move away from each other at all points, following the expansion of the universe

An example of a tiny universe containing only 48 stars. A spaceship traveling among these stars can not find the edge of this universe. If it goes out through one side of the universe, it will reemerge through the other edge. The travelers aboard the ship see an infinity of stars all around them. This universe has neither frontier nor center.
(Where did the Big Bang take place in the Universe?
It is often said that the Big Bang was an explosion in an empty space, and that this explosion developed in this empty space. This is false.

The Big Bang created space and time. At the beginning of the universe, space was completely filled by matter. The material was originally very hot and very dense, it then expanded and cooled to end up giving the stars and galaxies that we see today in the universe.
Although space may have been concentrated at a single point at the time of the Big Bang, it may also have been infinite from the beginning. In both scenarios, space was completely filled by matter at its inception.

There is no center for this expansion, the space 'swells' at all points. An observer in any galaxy sees most of the other galaxies in the universe moving away from him.

The only answer to the question "Where did the Big Bang take place" is thus that it occurred at every point of the universe.

Is the Earth also expanding in the universe?
The Earth is not expanding, nor is the Solar System, nor the Milky Way. These objects were formed under the influence of gravitation and ceased to expand. Gravity also retains the galaxies in groups and clusters. It is mainly groups and clusters of galaxies that move away from each other in the universe.

What is outside the universe?
Space was created by the Big Bang. Our universe has no edge or boundary - there is no 'outside' to our universe (see question 1). It is possible that our universe is only one of an infinity of universes (see question 4), but these universes do not necessarily need a 'space' to exist.

What was there before the Big Bang?

Time was created by the Big Bang - we do not know if it existed before the Big Bang. However, it is very difficult to answer such a question. Some theories suggest that our universe belongs to an infinity of universes (called a 'multiverse') in perpetual creation. This is possible, but extremely difficult to prove.

If the universe is 14 billion years old, how can galaxies be more than 14 billion light years away?
It is probable that our universe is infinite, and filled with matter everywhere since the Big Bang (see question 2). There is also serious evidence that in the early days of the universe, the universe had expanded at a much higher rate than light. It is possible to create such an expansion, in which the particles do not move at high speed but where the space between the particles increases considerably.

We can imagine galaxies as balls laid on a sheet of rubber that represents space. If we stretch the sheet, the balls move away from each other. Two close balls will only move slowly. Very distant balls will appear to leak at high speed. There is no limit to the rate of expansion of space.

Space is the geometry of our universe. Changes in the size or shape of space can occur due to shifts of matter or energy in the universe, or because of changes in the universe's content in terms of matter and energy.

One day our universe bubble may pop.

Industrial Light & Magic

That's why your Hollywood-science fantasy sells popcorn.

 

[TyroneSlothrop]

Going by the Manifestation of Life and Nature that we have Scientifically recognized , recorded and documented in our Knowledge base the Sense I have is of 'Abundance" both in Life forms and in Venues for Life form including such unlikely sites as "steam vents under extreme Ocean water Pressure at extreme depth trenches"...here on our Earth.

Therefore it seems counter Intuitive and 'highly Illogical" to surmise that we are all alone in the Vastness and the Infinity of Space Time......to me it seems like the Belief that the Sun Revolves around our Earth that almost cost Galileo his Life...the Belief that Organic Sentience in the Entire Universe Revolves around 'us" seems Egotistical Illogical...

 

[sealybobo]

You thinking we are alone is like if you found yourself on a deserted island and thought you were the only person on earth just because you have no way of looking across the atlantic or pacific to see there are millions of others out there. So your belief is based on ignorance. My belief is based on statistics and logic.

And because you don't know how you got on that island, you may even think that a god put you there and that you are special and all the universe was made just for you. Does that sound familiar?

 

[sealybobo]

Our Universe is too vast for even the most imaginative sci-fi | Aeon Ideas

The US astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson once said: ‘The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.’ Similarly, the wonders of the Universe are under no obligation to make it easy for science-fiction writers to tell stories about them. The Universe is mostly empty space, and the distances between stars in galaxies, and between galaxies in the Universe, are incomprehensibly vast on human scales. Capturing the true scale of the Universe, while somehow tying it to human endeavours and emotions, is a daunting challenge for any science-fiction writer. Olaf Stapledon took up that challenge in his novel Star Maker (1937), in which the stars and nebulae, and cosmos as a whole, are conscious. While we are humbled by our tiny size relative to the cosmos, our brains can none the less comprehend, to some extent, just how large the Universe we inhabit is. This is hopeful, since, as the astrobiologist Caleb Scharf of Columbia University has said: ‘In a finite world, a cosmic perspective isn’t a luxury, it is a necessity.’

Conveying this to the public is the real challenge faced by astronomers and science-fiction writers alike.

And to think us, this tiny little animal on one small planet is so smart. How many others are there? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands DS? Millions?

Postmodern Science Is Degenerate Wishful Thinking

It could easily be zero. The odds were almost impossible for life to appear on Earth. So we won the Powerball lottery and may be the only ones.

Statistically unlikely but because we're too stupid to know you side with the belief we are alone?

Nerd Fantasies

If all you have is the pushy self-pleasing NA$A lie that Earth-like planets are likely to have life, I take the other side by default. I only read about the real odds in a book by someone who was trying to push a different quack theory. Life needed 2 to the 200,000th power of events to form but did it on Earth with only 2 to the 200th power.

17% agree with you. That doesn't mean you are right or wrong but just saying your thinking is not normal.

One of the most popular questions today is, “Are we alone in the universe?” Believe it or not, you’re in the minority if you believe that absolutely no intelligent life exists outside of planet Earth. In the United States alone, at least half of all Americans say that we’re not alone in the universe. Fifty percent of Americans already believe that there is some form of life on other planets, while only seventeen percent believe there is not. A quarter of Americans believe that intelligent extraterrestrial visitors have already come to Earth and have been doing so for a long time.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

You thinking we are alone is like if you found yourself on a deserted island and thought you were the only person on earth just because you have no way of looking across the atlantic or pacific to see there are millions of others out there. So your belief is based on ignorance. My belief is based on statistics and logic.

Trekkies' Trick Rhetoric

Tell that to the usually sole person who wins the Powerball Lottery. Tens of millions play, so according to your NA$A logic and imaginary odds, there should be many more winners.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

Our Universe is too vast for even the most imaginative sci-fi | Aeon Ideas

The US astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson once said: ‘The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.’ Similarly, the wonders of the Universe are under no obligation to make it easy for science-fiction writers to tell stories about them. The Universe is mostly empty space, and the distances between stars in galaxies, and between galaxies in the Universe, are incomprehensibly vast on human scales. Capturing the true scale of the Universe, while somehow tying it to human endeavours and emotions, is a daunting challenge for any science-fiction writer. Olaf Stapledon took up that challenge in his novel Star Maker (1937), in which the stars and nebulae, and cosmos as a whole, are conscious. While we are humbled by our tiny size relative to the cosmos, our brains can none the less comprehend, to some extent, just how large the Universe we inhabit is. This is hopeful, since, as the astrobiologist Caleb Scharf of Columbia University has said: ‘In a finite world, a cosmic perspective isn’t a luxury, it is a necessity.’

Conveying this to the public is the real challenge faced by astronomers and science-fiction writers alike.

And to think us, this tiny little animal on one small planet is so smart. How many others are there? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands DS? Millions?

Postmodern Science Is Degenerate Wishful Thinking

It could easily be zero. The odds were almost impossible for life to appear on Earth. So we won the Powerball lottery and may be the only ones.

Statistically unlikely but because we're too stupid to know you side with the belief we are alone?

Nerd Fantasies

If all you have is the pushy self-pleasing NA$A lie that Earth-like planets are likely to have life, I take the other side by default. I only read about the real odds in a book by someone who was trying to push a different quack theory. Life needed 2 to the 200,000th power of events to form but did it on Earth with only 2 to the 200th power.

17% agree with you. That doesn't mean you are right or wrong but just saying your thinking is not normal.

One of the most popular questions today is, “Are we alone in the universe?” Believe it or not, you’re in the minority if you believe that absolutely no intelligent life exists outside of planet Earth. In the United States alone, at least half of all Americans say that we’re not alone in the universe. Fifty percent of Americans already believe that there is some form of life on other planets, while only seventeen percent believe there is not. A quarter of Americans believe that intelligent extraterrestrial visitors have already come to Earth and have been doing so for a long time.

Tinseltown and Tin Foil Hats

The fate of popcorn-munching believers was shown in the movie Arachnophobia.

 

[sealybobo]

You thinking we are alone is like if you found yourself on a deserted island and thought you were the only person on earth just because you have no way of looking across the atlantic or pacific to see there are millions of others out there. So your belief is based on ignorance. My belief is based on statistics and logic.

Trekkies' Trick Rhetoric

Tell that to the usually sole person who wins the Powerball Lottery. Tens of millions play, so according to your NA$A logic and imaginary odds, there should be many more winners.

That's your logic? Because only one person wins the lotto there must only be one planet with life on it?

 

[sealybobo]

And to think us, this tiny little animal on one small planet is so smart. How many others are there? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands DS? Millions?

Postmodern Science Is Degenerate Wishful Thinking

It could easily be zero. The odds were almost impossible for life to appear on Earth. So we won the Powerball lottery and may be the only ones.

Statistically unlikely but because we're too stupid to know you side with the belief we are alone?

Nerd Fantasies

If all you have is the pushy self-pleasing NA$A lie that Earth-like planets are likely to have life, I take the other side by default. I only read about the real odds in a book by someone who was trying to push a different quack theory. Life needed 2 to the 200,000th power of events to form but did it on Earth with only 2 to the 200th power.

17% agree with you. That doesn't mean you are right or wrong but just saying your thinking is not normal.

One of the most popular questions today is, “Are we alone in the universe?” Believe it or not, you’re in the minority if you believe that absolutely no intelligent life exists outside of planet Earth. In the United States alone, at least half of all Americans say that we’re not alone in the universe. Fifty percent of Americans already believe that there is some form of life on other planets, while only seventeen percent believe there is not. A quarter of Americans believe that intelligent extraterrestrial visitors have already come to Earth and have been doing so for a long time.

Tinseltown and Tin Foil Hats

The fate of popcorn-munching believers was shown in the movie Arachnophobia.

Man behind viral universe video is a Perth scientist

You make me laugh.

All the stars you see in the night sky are part of a big system of stars all rotating around each other, the Milky Way galaxy. For 100 years we have known there are many more, much farther away. The whole universe is made up of hundreds of billions of these galaxies.

Hundreds of billions of galaxies. Not planets, GALAXIES.

Our glaxy, the Milky Way, has a mass of about 100 billion solar masses, so it is easiest to translate that to 100 billion stars. This accounts for the stars that would be bigger or smaller than our sun, and averages them out. Other mass estimates bring the number up to 400 billion.

so 400 billion x 100's of billions of galaxies. Are you grasping this?

Now consider the distance between our sun and the next closest star. Mind blowingly far. Now, for you to suggest we are alone is absolutely laughable because the odds are we are not. And if we are alone, what an incredible waste of space.

 

[sealybobo]

There may be life in our solar system outside of earth and we don't know it yet. That's how little we know about things very close to our planet. There may have been life on mars at one time. We don't know it because we don't know shit. So for some wise ass to suggest we are alone in the universe sounds like the most ignorant opinion a person could have. Especially basing this on the odds of winning the lotto. It tells me how small the person actually thinks. I consider the person a mental midget. Or someone who is so religious that they truly believe we are alone because their ancient holy books say we are.

 

[ScienceRocks]

People once thought that the oceans were too vast too....

We found a way to cross them!

Funny how conservatives are always the losers and deniers of our species.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

You thinking we are alone is like if you found yourself on a deserted island and thought you were the only person on earth just because you have no way of looking across the atlantic or pacific to see there are millions of others out there. So your belief is based on ignorance. My belief is based on statistics and logic.

Trekkies' Trick Rhetoric

Tell that to the usually sole person who wins the Powerball Lottery. Tens of millions play, so according to your NA$A logic and imaginary odds, there should be many more winners.

That's your logic? Because only one person wins the lotto there must only be one planet with life on it?

Loaded for Bull

Your island analogy begs the question, Gilligan. It turns out in your favor because you dishonestly pick an island on a planet we know is inhabited.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

Postmodern Science Is Degenerate Wishful Thinking

It could easily be zero. The odds were almost impossible for life to appear on Earth. So we won the Powerball lottery and may be the only ones.

Statistically unlikely but because we're too stupid to know you side with the belief we are alone?

Nerd Fantasies

If all you have is the pushy self-pleasing NA$A lie that Earth-like planets are likely to have life, I take the other side by default. I only read about the real odds in a book by someone who was trying to push a different quack theory. Life needed 2 to the 200,000th power of events to form but did it on Earth with only 2 to the 200th power.

17% agree with you. That doesn't mean you are right or wrong but just saying your thinking is not normal.

One of the most popular questions today is, “Are we alone in the universe?” Believe it or not, you’re in the minority if you believe that absolutely no intelligent life exists outside of planet Earth. In the United States alone, at least half of all Americans say that we’re not alone in the universe. Fifty percent of Americans already believe that there is some form of life on other planets, while only seventeen percent believe there is not. A quarter of Americans believe that intelligent extraterrestrial visitors have already come to Earth and have been doing so for a long time.

Tinseltown and Tin Foil Hats

The fate of popcorn-munching believers was shown in the movie Arachnophobia.

Man behind viral universe video is a Perth scientist

You make me laugh.

All the stars you see in the night sky are part of a big system of stars all rotating around each other, the Milky Way galaxy. For 100 years we have known there are many more, much farther away. The whole universe is made up of hundreds of billions of these galaxies.

Hundreds of billions of galaxies. Not planets, GALAXIES.

Our glaxy, the Milky Way, has a mass of about 100 billion solar masses, so it is easiest to translate that to 100 billion stars. This accounts for the stars that would be bigger or smaller than our sun, and averages them out. Other mass estimates bring the number up to 400 billion.

so 400 billion x 100's of billions of galaxies. Are you grasping this?

Now consider the distance between our sun and the next closest star. Mind blowingly far. Now, for you to suggest we are alone is absolutely laughable because the odds are we are not. And if we are alone, what an incredible waste of space.

Yoda-Lay-He-Hoo

Do you feel more important now? I see a great future for you leading some Trekkie cult. Or maybe you're a Chewbacca fan and can mentor wannabe Wookiees.

 

[sealybobo]

Statistically unlikely but because we're too stupid to know you side with the belief we are alone?

Nerd Fantasies

If all you have is the pushy self-pleasing NA$A lie that Earth-like planets are likely to have life, I take the other side by default. I only read about the real odds in a book by someone who was trying to push a different quack theory. Life needed 2 to the 200,000th power of events to form but did it on Earth with only 2 to the 200th power.

17% agree with you. That doesn't mean you are right or wrong but just saying your thinking is not normal.

One of the most popular questions today is, “Are we alone in the universe?” Believe it or not, you’re in the minority if you believe that absolutely no intelligent life exists outside of planet Earth. In the United States alone, at least half of all Americans say that we’re not alone in the universe. Fifty percent of Americans already believe that there is some form of life on other planets, while only seventeen percent believe there is not. A quarter of Americans believe that intelligent extraterrestrial visitors have already come to Earth and have been doing so for a long time.

Tinseltown and Tin Foil Hats

The fate of popcorn-munching believers was shown in the movie Arachnophobia.

Man behind viral universe video is a Perth scientist

You make me laugh.

All the stars you see in the night sky are part of a big system of stars all rotating around each other, the Milky Way galaxy. For 100 years we have known there are many more, much farther away. The whole universe is made up of hundreds of billions of these galaxies.

Hundreds of billions of galaxies. Not planets, GALAXIES.

Our glaxy, the Milky Way, has a mass of about 100 billion solar masses, so it is easiest to translate that to 100 billion stars. This accounts for the stars that would be bigger or smaller than our sun, and averages them out. Other mass estimates bring the number up to 400 billion.

so 400 billion x 100's of billions of galaxies. Are you grasping this?

Now consider the distance between our sun and the next closest star. Mind blowingly far. Now, for you to suggest we are alone is absolutely laughable because the odds are we are not. And if we are alone, what an incredible waste of space.

Yoda-Lay-He-Hoo

Do you feel more important now? I see a great future for you leading some Trekkie cult. Or maybe you're a Chewbacca fan and can mentor wannabe Wookiees.

You thinking we are alone is like if you found yourself on a deserted island and thought you were the only person on earth just because you have no way of looking across the atlantic or pacific to see there are millions of others out there. So your belief is based on ignorance. My belief is based on statistics and logic.

Trekkies' Trick Rhetoric

Tell that to the usually sole person who wins the Powerball Lottery. Tens of millions play, so according to your NA$A logic and imaginary odds, there should be many more winners.

That's your logic? Because only one person wins the lotto there must only be one planet with life on it?

Loaded for Bull

Your island analogy begs the question, Gilligan. It turns out in your favor because you dishonestly pick an island on a planet we know is inhabited.

Ok, pick an island on a planet somewhere else where there is no other life on it other than the one person named Gilligan. Why would Gilligan think he's the only person on that planet? I'll tell you why. Because he's never seen any other humans. But has he traveled anywhere? No he has not. He has never left the island. He made a telescope out of coconuts and pepsi bottles and with it he can see land mass far far away but he can't make out any details because the land is too far away. He sees some trees but no sign of life.

Why would he think that he's the only living thing in the entire universe? Does he think he is special? Does he think God made all that for just him? Doesn't he think there are probably others out there? Why does he assume he's alone?

It's out of ignorance that he thinks he's the only living creature in the universe or even on his own little planet. Now if he were able to travel to other planets in the universe outside his solar system and investigate closely maybe he could make an educated guess but is that what you are doing? Because most intelligent scientists guess that we are probably not the only living things in the universe. We just don't know because we don't have the technology to confirm or deny. But funny you "feel" like we are alone when most people believe there is other life out there. Does your man made religion play a part in why you think we are alone? Because I wouldn't put too much faith in that book. It was made up a long time ago by men who know even less than you.

 

[sealybobo]

People once thought that the oceans were too vast too....

We found a way to cross them!

Funny how conservatives are always the losers and deniers of our species.

It really is hard for me to wrap my brain around just how big the universe is, how there are more stars than there are grains of sand on all the world's oceans. To really grasp just how many stars that is. And then to think of how far apart each star is from the next star. I think at our fastest speed we could reach the next star in 80,000 years or 80 years. I forgot but the point is it's hard to accept how big it is and how small we are.

I don't know why it bothers me when people say they think we are all their is. Ha! There may be life in Europa and we don't know yet. We are so young new and learning things for the first time. I hate people who hold science back. I think the man has held us back and down. We could be thousands of years ahead of where we are now if it weren't for rulers wars and religions.

 

[ScienceRocks]

People once thought that the oceans were too vast too....

We found a way to cross them!

Funny how conservatives are always the losers and deniers of our species.

It really is hard for me to wrap my brain around just how big the universe is, how there are more stars than there are grains of sand on all the world's oceans. To really grasp just how many stars that is. And then to think of how far apart each star is from the next star. I think at our fastest speed we could reach the next star in 80,000 years or 80 years. I forgot but the point is it's hard to accept how big it is and how small we are.

I don't know why it bothers me when people say they think we are all their is. Ha! There may be life in Europa and we don't know yet. We are so young new and learning things for the first time. I hate people who hold science back. I think the man has held us back and down. We could be thousands of years ahead of where we are now if it weren't for rulers wars and religions.

Conservatism and religion are why humanity may well die on this planet and never have a chance at spreading...

We could go to mars so easily
Develop a generational ship with 200-500 people and send it to the nearest star.

But we sit here without even being able to defend our planet from asteroids because hell, that would be a boondoogle to the idiots.